Oil suction pump

ABSTRACT

An oil suction pump has an air outlet normally closed by a valve controlled via a compression spring, and the valve may be pushed backward by flowing air to open the air outlet. Therefore, the oil suction pump may be connected to an air compressor or to a manual air pump to obtain flowing air to push backward the valve and thereby open the air outlet and vacuumize a container connected to the oil suction pump for sucking oil into the container. A user may freely select to operate the oil suction pump via the air compressor or the manual air pump depending on actual need.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an oil suction pump, and more particularly to an oil suction pump having an air outlet normally closed by a valve and openable by air flowing against and pushing the valve backward. Therefore, a manual air pump may be externally connected to the oil suction pump, allowing a user to operate the oil suction pump via a power-actuated air compressor or the manual air pump, depending on actual need.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,603 B2 discloses an oil suction pump invented by the same inventor of the present invention. The oil suction pump disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,603 B2 includes a float that ascends with the level of oil sucked into a container connected with the oil suction pump, such that an air intake valve for controlling the suction of oil is automatically closed when the level of oil sucked into the container reaches a preset height. It is noted the oil suction pump disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,603 B2 is operable only when it is connected to a power-actuated air compressor. In other words, the oil suction pump disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,603 B2 is workable to automatically suck oil only in a power-actuated manner. The oil suction pump is completely useless when it is used in an environment without power supply.

Although there are many commercially available oil suction pumps, either power-driven or manual-automatic ones, such as the oil suction pump disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,138 B2, none of them are similar to U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,603 B2 in terms of the operating manner thereof. That is, none of the currently available oil suction pumps use a float to control the automatic close of the air intake valve for controlling the suction of oil and prevent oil from jetting out of the air outlet in the process of sucking oil into a container.

It is therefore tried by the inventor to improve the oil suction pump disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,603 B2, so as to develop an oil suction pump that has expanded range of application, and allows a user to automatically operate the oil suction pump via a power-actuated air compressor or to manually operate the oil suction pump via a manual air pump externally connected to the oil suction pump, depending on actual need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an oil suction pump, in which a normally closed air outlet is controlled by flowing air to open. Therefore, a manual air pump may be externally connected to the oil suction pump, allowing the oil suction pump to be operated via a power-actuated air compressor or the manual air pump, so that the oil suction pump has expanded range of application and may be more conveniently operated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional oil suction pump;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an oil suction pump according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the oil suction pump of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary and enlarged sectional view of FIG. 3 showing the structure of the oil suction pump of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is another vertical sectional view of the oil suction pump of the present invention showing the manner in which high-pressure air flows through an air outlet of the oil suction pump;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary and enlarged sectional view of FIG. 5 showing the structure of the oil suction pump of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the oil suction pump of the present invention showing the operating of a manual air pump to suck in air;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a relief valve included in the oil suction pump of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the relief valve of FIG. 8 in a position of relieving air.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIG. 1 that is a vertical sectional view of a conventional oil suction pump, based on which the present invention is made. As shown, the oil suction pump of FIG. 1 includes a push switch 1, a shaft 2 located below the push switch 1, a first compression spring 3 provided around an upper portion of the shaft 2 for the push switch 1 to be elastically moved downward within a predetermined range, and an enclosed passage 4 for receiving the shaft 2 therein.

The enclosed passage 4 has an open upper end communicating with the push switch 1 and is communicable at two opposite sides with an air outlet pipe 5 and an air inlet pipe 6, respectively. An open lower end of the enclosed passage 4 communicates with a slide way 8, in which a first end of a float arm 7 is located.

First and second airtight seal rings 91, 92 are provided near upper and lower ends, respectively, of the shaft 2, so that the shaft 2 located in the enclosed passage 4 is always in an airtight relation with the enclosed passage 4 near the upper and the lower end of the shaft 2. A third airtight seal ring 93 is provided near a middle portion of the shaft 2. When the shaft 2 is vertically moved in the enclosed passage 4, the third seal ring 93 is also moved to different height to either close or open a communicating path between an inner end of the air outlet pipe 5 and the enclosed passage 4. A second compression spring 31 is provided near the middle portion of the shaft 2 to control a magnitude of vertical movement of the shaft 2 in the enclosed passage 4. More particularly, the enclosed passage 4 includes a downward flared portion in its inner bore. When the shaft 2 is not downward moved to compress the second compression spring 31, the third airtight seal ring 93 on the shaft 2 is just located at a height to firmly abut against the flared portion of the enclosed passage 4 and therefore seals the communicating path between the enclosed passage 4 and the air outlet pipe 5. And, when the shaft 2 is moved downward to compress the second compression spring 31, the third airtight seal ring 93 is also moved downward to separate from the flared portion of the enclosed passage 4 for the air outlet pipe 5 to communicate with the enclosed passage 4.

The shaft 2 has a lower end in the form of a hook 21. The hook 21 is located in the slide way 8 to detachably engage with a hook 71 provided at the first end of the float arm 7 horizontally located below the lower end of the shaft 2. The float arm 7 is pivotally turnable about a supporting point 72 provided close to and below the hook 71. A second end of the float arm 7 is pivotally connected to a float 73. When the conventional oil suction pump of FIG. 1 is connected to a container 10 for sucking oil 11 thereinto, the float 73 ascends when the oil 11 reaches a predetermined level in the container 10.

The conventional oil suction pump of FIG. 1 may also be internally provided with an air drawing passage 12 to communicate with the air outlet pipe 5. A floating member 13 is provided in the air drawing passage 12 as an auxiliary means to control the air outlet pipe 5. The floating member 13 has a diameter-reduced neck portion provided near an upper end thereof, and a fourth airtight seal ring 94 is provided around the neck portion. When the oil 11 sucked into the container 10 reaches such a level to move the floating member 13 upward, the fourth airtight seal ring 94 is also moved upward to close the air drawing passage 12 and therefore prevents the oil 11 from flowing into and jetting out via the air outlet pipe 5.

Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 3 that are perspective and vertical sectional views, respectively, of an oil suction pump according to the present invention. In addition to the above-mentioned structure included in the conventional oil suction pump of FIG. 1, the present invention further includes a new cover mounted to a front end of an air outlet 14 to replace that used in the conventional oil suction pump of FIG. 1. The new cover consists of a housing 15, a muffle 166, and a valve set 16.

The housing 15 is provided on an inner wall surface of a rear end close to the front end of the air outlet 14 with screw threads 152, so that the housing 15 may be screwed onto an outer wall surface of the front end of the air outlet 14. The housing 15 is also provided on its circumferential wall with several rows of axially sequentially arranged vents 151. A front end of the housing 15 has a radially inward projected portion, a center of which is molded into a sleeve seat 153. A radially inward annular projection 165 is formed around an inner bore of the sleeve seat 153 near an inner end thereof.

The valve set 16 includes a base 161, a compression spring 162, and a sealing head 163. The base 161 is provided around an outer circumferential surface with an annular groove 1611, which is fitly engaged with the annular projection 165 on the sleeve seat 153 when the base 161 is set in the inner bore of the sleeve seat 153. The base 161 is provided at a central area with a bore 1612 to slidably receive a long shaft 164 rearward extended from a front portion of the sealing head 163. A free end of the long shaft 164 is expanded after the long shaft 164 has been inserted into the bore 1612, so that the long shaft 164 is prevented from separating from the bore 1612 of the base 161. The compression spring 162 is mounted around the long shaft 164 behind the front portion of the sealing head 163 to provide a restoring force for the long shaft 164 to elastically reciprocate in the bore 1612 of the base 161. The front portion of the sealing head 163 in front of the long shaft 164 is a cylindrical body having a neck portion 167, around which an airtight seal ring 168 is mounted. The compression spring 162 normally pushes the front portion of the sealing head 163 against a front opening 141 of the air outlet 14 of the air suction pump, such that the airtight seal ring 168 mounted on the neck portion 167 of the sealing head 163 tightly seals the front opening 141.

With the valve set 16 mounted in the housing 15 and the vents 151 formed on the housing 15, it is possible to conveniently connect a manual air pump 17 and a pipe holder 18 for temporarily holding an oil suction pipe (not shown) to an outer shell of the oil suction pump. The manual air pump 17 is provided at predetermined positions with a movable connector 171 for connecting to the air inlet pipe 6, and a relief valve 20.

Please refer to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 for the operation of the oil suction pump of the present invention. When a user wants to use a power-actuated air compressor to operate the oil suction pump, simply connects an air pipe connector on the air compressor to the air inlet pipe 6 of the oil suction pump, and high-pressure air 62 supplied from the air compressor, as indicated by the arrows in FIGS. 5 and 6, would push the sealing head 163 away from the front opening 141 of the air outlet 14 and compress the compression spring 162, so that the high-pressure air 62 passes the muffle 166 and is muffled before flowing out of the housing 15 via the vents 151. When the air is blown out of the container 10, the container 10 is vacuumized to allow suction of oil 11 into the container 10. When the oil suction is completed, the air compressor is shut off, and the compression spring 162 mounted on the long shaft 164 of the sealing head 163 automatically restores from the compressed state to move the sealing head 163 forward, so that the front portion of the sealing head 163 is pushed against the front opening 141 of the air inlet 14 of the oil suction pump with the airtight seal ring 168 around the neck portion 167 of the sealing head 163 tightly sealing the front opening 141 again.

On the other hand, when a user wants to manually operate the oil suction pump of the present invention, simply connects the movable connector 171 on the manual air pump 17 to the air inlet pipe 6 of the oil suction pump, as shown in FIG. 7. Before the manual air pump 17 is operated, there is not any high-pressure air 62 flowing into the air outlet 14 to push open the valve set 16, and the valve set 16 is in a closed state. The user needs only to vertically push and pull a handle 172 of the manual air pump 17, and the container 10 may be vacuumized to allow suction of oil into the container 10.

FIG. 8 shows the structure of the relief valve 20 provided on the outer shell of the manual air pump 17. As shown, the relief valve 20 is internally provided with a push button 201, a compression spring 202, a sealing head 203, and an airtight seal ring 204 mounted on the sealing head 203 to normally seal an air passage 205 in the relief valve 20. When the push button 201 is downward pressed, the sealing head 203 is moved downward simultaneously, so that the airtight seal ring 204 on the sealing head 203 does not seal the air passage 205, as shown in FIG. 9, and air in the manual air pump 17 may be relieved via the air passage 205, and the manual air pump 17 is ready for use next time. 

1. An oil suction pump, comprising a cover mounted to a front end of an air outlet of said oil suction pump, a manual air pump externally connected to a shell of said oil suction pump, and an oil suction pipe holder externally connected to the shell of said oil suction pump; and said manual air pump being provided with a movable connector identical to an air inlet connector that is usually provided on an air compressor, and a relief valve.
 2. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cover consists of a housing, a muffle, and a valve set.
 3. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 2, wherein said housing is provided on an inner wall surface of a rear end close to the front end of said air outlet with screw threads.
 4. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 3, wherein said housing is provided on a circumferential wall with several rows of axially sequentially arranged vents.
 5. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 4, wherein said housing has a front end having a radially inward projected portion, a center of which is molded into a sleeve seat.
 6. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 5, wherein said sleeve seat has an inner bore, and a radially inward annular projection formed in said inner bore near an inner end thereof.
 7. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 2, wherein said valve set includes a base, a compression spring, and a sealing head.
 8. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 7, wherein said base is provided around an outer circumferential surface with an annular groove.
 9. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 7, wherein said base is provided at a central area with a bore.
 10. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 7, wherein said sealing head has a front portion in the form of a cylindrical body, and a long shaft rearward extended from said front portion.
 11. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 10, wherein said front cylindrical body of said sealing head includes a neck portion and an airtight seal ring mounted on said neck portion.
 12. The oil suction pump as claimed in claim 11, wherein said compression spring of said valve set normally pushes said front portion of said sealing head against a front opening of said air outlet of said oil suction pump, with said airtight seal ring on said neck portion of said sealing head tightly sealing said front opening of said air outlet. 